Just Be There
by Bliksem
Summary: Three years after the Advance Generation, Ash has hit hard times. Indicted with various charges, he struggles just to keep his sanity. But throughout it all is a bright light.


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon was created by Satoshi Tajiri and is the legal property of Nintendo. All characters are copyright of the author. Please do not claim this story, or any of the chapters comprising it, as your own. Please feel free to email the author questions, comments, and/or criticisms or simply post a review.

In recent news, Pokemon Trainer Ash Ketchum has been indicted with numerous charges against his person, including, but not limited to, trespassing, vandalism, willful endangerment of lives both human and Pokemon, terrorism, disturbing the peace, cheating, attacking humans with Pokemon—

The television snapped off and a frustrated Ash tossed the remote to the side where it clattered against the arm of the sofa before falling on to the carpeted floor. Without the sound of the television, the house seemed eerily quiet, mocking him with its silence. Other than his own breath and the soft snoring of the yellow and brown Pokemon beside him, he could hear nothing. The two-story house was completely empty.

His tired eyes fell on to his partner beside him. "Pikachu…" he whispered, and the mouse's ear flicked. There lay the cause of all his problems. Pikachu, the first Pokemon he'd ever owned, was the reason his life was turning to shit. He reached out and stroked the mouse's body, smiling despite himself. He loved the usually chipper rodent with all his heart, ever since they'd first met and now this issue threatened to drive a wedge between them. He gave another of his countless sighs. This was too much.

"We haven't done anything wrong…" he muttered quietly, looking up at the ceiling. The fan twisted lazily in the air, offering just enough noise to fill his ears to block the escape of his sanity. But he knew deep down that they had committed a crime, a terrible crime that neither he nor Pikachu could ever live down. Though it had been an accident, it still happened. Neither of them could take it back.

But that accident seemed to trigger a torrent of lawsuits and indictments. Almost every Kanto Gym Leader turned against him; even the Pokemon League accused him of fraud. Every day, another charge, another friend who'd decided that his victory was unfair, that he had somehow wronged them. The days merged together; he couldn't even remember when all of this started. He'd wake up, listen to the news, turn it off as soon as he heard his name, and proceed to mope through the day. His purpose in life had gone.

Even his traveling partners had abandoned him. May, the young girl from Hoenn who he'd helped start her Pokemon journey, had fled away from him in fear, and Max, her younger brother whom he'd watched and supported as he got his Pokemon Trainer's License, left as well, but not before some scathing comments. Tracy had denounced all contact with him, and Brock… well, Brock had joined the army of Gym Leaders who had decided to strip him of everything that he loved.

The only two bright spots were quickly fading away. Professor Samuel Oak had given Ash his support, even though he was under fire as well. After all, was it not Professor Oak who gave Ash his starting Pokemon? Was it not Professor Oak who gave Ash a Pokemon that was not available for any of his other students? The old man had already been stripped of his rank and title as one of the leading researchers in the world, and he was quickly losing everything else. But even then, he still offered his support.

Knock Knock Knock

The sound of knuckles lightly rapping on the door stirred Ash out of his stupor and he gave a slight groan. "Be right there!" he called out, though his voice sounded weak and tired. Slowly he rose from the sofa and trudged to the door, unhitching its many locks. After all, with the number of death threats he'd received, it paid to be careful. But now he was too tired to care anymore. The last lock turned and the door opened. Ash's face brightened.

Standing before him, an Azurill in one arm and a rather full and heavy bag in the other, stood Misty. The girl had developed considerably over the years, becoming a ravishing young lady. But her beauty was lost by the worry on her face. She looked around, ushering the Azurill on to her shoulder before gripping the bag with both hands. "Um, hi… Ash." Her voice was hesitant. Bad news. Ash gave an inward sigh. "Uh… may… I come in?"

"Of course…" He stepped back and held an arm, directing her in towards on of the chairs. As she entered in, he closed the door behind her, locking it as had become ingrained in his habit. She sat down on a chair adjacent to the sofa and looked towards Pikachu. Though the mouse hadn't moved, she gave a bit of a sigh. "Guess you aren't fooled, either. Get up, Pikachu." The mouse's ear flicked and it begrudgingly sat up, casting a look of longing and doubt towards Misty. Ash plopped on the sofa. "So, what is it…?"

"Ash…" Misty looked around, unsure where to start. Understandable. "What… what's going on? I don't see you in so long and now all of this? What happened?" Ash rolled his head, and Misty sat the bag on the ground, standing. The Azurill hopped off her shoulder. "You're not a child anymore, so why don't you tell me what's going on!"

"What can I tell you!" Ash responded, his voice only a little higher than it had been before. Misty deflated slightly. "You heard the news! You know what's going on! I'm surprised you're not with all of them!" Pikachu's ears fell. "So what is? Gonna blame me for the damage to the gym wall? Or do you want me to pay for that bike? What's it gonna be, huh!"

"Ash, stop it!" Ash bleated then fell into a sulk. Misty stared at him indignantly. "I'm not here because of that! I came because I was worried about you! I was afraid you'd be acting just like this!" She sat down and gripped her knees. "I stopped my sisters from trying to charge you for the wall. It wasn't your fault, it was Team Rocket's."

Ash winced at the name. "Eh… yeah… sorry about losing my temper."

"It's fine… here, I brought you some stuff." Misty pointed towards the bag. "It's mostly groceries, but I got food for Pikachu, too. There's meats, and vegetables, and canned goods, too. I thought Mrs. Ketchum could—"

"Mom's gone."

"Huh?"

"She left a few days after this all started. Said she was going on 'vacation'. She took Mime with her, too. The house has been totally empty for month, with just me and Pikachu."

Misty looked away. "That's horrible…."

"Yeah, she ran away. I don't care, though. I'm not. None of this is my fault, and I'm not going to run away from it."

"You're not nervous?"

"I've never been nervous in my life!" Ash grinned. The memories were sweet. "Irritated, yeah. Annoyed, hell yeah. Nervous? Not on your life!"

Giving a sigh of relief, Misty sat back. "I've been here for just a few moments and already you're returning to your old self. That's good…"

Ash sat up a bit. "Something wrong, Misty? You seem kinda… out of it. Something happen? Besides this, I mean."

"Ash…" Misty fell silent for a moment before starting to fish through the bag. After pulling out a few opaque containers, she stood and made her way into the kitchen. Ash started to rise. "No, you stay there. I'm going to make us something to eat… you must be hungry, seeing as you can't exactly go to the store without attracting stares…."

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Like always, Misty was right, and his stomach grumbled in agreement. Even Pikachu nodded towards it before slouching against the couch. Chu… it mumbled, folding its ears backwards. "Hey, there…" Ash said softly, rubbing his un-gloved hand on Pikachu's head. The mouse looked at him with shimmering eyes. "Don't worry, okay? Everything's going to be okay. I promise. No one's going to take you away again."

The mouse nodded, a tear rolling out of the corner of his eye. Ash smiled to comfort him, but it was empty. They'd been together long enough to understand without words. Pikachu missed the rest of his friends, the Pokemon that had been ruthlessly snatched away from Ash for 'testing' as the officials called. They apparently wished to analyze his Pokemon to see if they had been altered in any way.

It had only been Pikachu's claustrophobia that kept him from suffering the same fate. While the others had been taken in their pokeballs, or at Oak's Ranch, during the raids, only he had been free to fight back. And fight back he did, only to bring more charges against the two of them. Chu… Pika… chu… The mouse hung his head lower. Chu… "I know, Pikachu… I know…."

An uncomfortable silence followed, lasting several minutes before Misty returned with two bowls of rice and a slightly smaller bowl of meaty brown chunks. She set the rice in front of Ash, the smaller bowl next to it, and then took her seat. But rather than eat, she stared at the two with a forlorn expression. "Has it really been so hard?"

Ash merely closed his eyes, and Pikachu tentatively reached for one of the brown chunks, nibbling on it as if it'd been laced with poison. Misty gave a sigh. "It's almost as if the life was drained out of the both of you. You've changed so much. I wish I could say it was for the better, but you both seem so sad. I wish…."

"You wish what?"

"I don't know… that things could have been different."

"There's no point in wishing 'could have', 'would have', 'what if'. It doesn't change anything." Misty winced slightly. "You try your best, but the world decides to turn on you just because of a stupid accident. And it's not like they care! They're just in it for personal gain. It's stupid. I can't believe I was friends with any of them…."

"Ash, you don't mean that…."

"No, you're right… I don't. I wouldn't trade any of the memories I have for anything. I wouldn't forget any of that, even if it let me get out of this mess. I had too much fun with my friends." He glanced at Misty, his eyes watering. "Especially my best friends."

"Oh, Ash…" Misty smiled as she bent down to scoop Azumarill into her lap. "You won't have to worry about me. If anything I won't betray. Even if you made a mistake. Even if whatever happened was a terrible accident. You've been kind all your life. You deserve to receive what you've given out." Misty took in a bit of rice, hiding the tear in her eye.

"Thanks, Misty, but…" Ash sighed as he prodded at the steaming food. "I think I'm going to need a lot more than support if I'm going to get through this." He smiled sheepishly and scratched at Pikachu's head. The little mouse had nibbled on the bits quicker now, ever since Misty had said her piece.

"I'll give whatever I can…"

Ash smiled again before starting to eat. The food was delicious, better than anything he'd had in months. Of course, it still paled in comparison to what Brock could do. Giving credit where it was due, the man could cook. Though he claimed to want to become a Pokemon Breeder, Ash always thought that Brock should become a professional chef instead. After all, not everything the man had said had been totally accurate regarding Pokemon.

He shook his head. No, he shouldn't think bad thoughts about anyone, regardless of how underhanded and selfish their motivations were. They were still his friends, or used to be at least. That afforded them at least some semblance of respect. Ash sighed. Why couldn't things be simple anymore? "You know, it's funny… I've traveled all around these regions and I'm just now realizing how stupid and selfish humanity can be."

"Ash, please don't…."

"No, I'm serious. What's the point? I know that my dream's gone. Even though I might get off on these charges, the scars have been made. They took everything away from me. My friends. My Pokemon. My mother. Everything except Pikachu, my life and…" he paused, his stomach twisting. "And you…"

Misty fell silent.

"Misty?"

"H-Huh?"

"Thank you… for everything."


End file.
